Zeus
Zeus (Greek: Ζεύς) was the Greek deity of the sky, weather, lightning, thunder, air, law, order, justice, honour, hospitality, governance, moral conduct, oaths, honesty and integrity. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and Etruscan counterpart is Tinia. Zeus is the youngest child of Kronos and Rhea, and is married to Hera. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo and Artemis, Hermes, Persephone (by Demeter), Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses (by Mnemosyne); by Hera, he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Reign Mythology Zeus' father, Cronus,vhvvgb was known for swallowing his children whole after they were born because of a prophecy that stated that one of his children would overpower him. Zeus was the last born of six. Zeus' mother, Rhea, didn't want her sixth child to be consumed by her cannibalistic husband so she gave Cronus a swaddeled rock instead of Zeus for Cronus to swallow and she hid Zeus in a cave in Crete with several noisy nymphs so his cries could not be heard by Cronus. There are then various ways that the myth goes; #Zeus was raised by Gaia, the personification of the earth, who assisted Rhea in hiding Zeus so that he could overtake Cronus and Gaia's other children, the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires, could be released from their eternal prison. #He was raised by a group of noisy nymphs and a goat named Amalthea. This goat's horns could create nector and ambrosia from its horns to feed Zeus. #He was raised by a nymph named Adamanthea. Cronus ruled over the Earth, heavens, and the sea so the nymph dangled him from a tree on a rope so he wasn't in the sea, sky, or the earth. #He was raised by a nymph named Cynosura. Zeus thanked her by placing her in the stars. After Zeus was fully grown. He went to his father's palace and acted as his cupbearer. Rhea, being the titaness of motherhood, knew exactly who Zeus was the second she saw him, but she said nothing. Instead she told Zeus to put mustard into Cronus' wine so that he would regurgitate his eaten children. Zeus did so and after all five of his siblings were out of their father, they ran away to plan their attack. Zeus and his five siblings began to attack the Titans. Most of the Titans backed their King, Cronus, but Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, joined the Gods. Also, there are a few titans, like Oceanus, who remained neutral. This war lasted ten years, and in the final year, Zeus released the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires who helped him to defeat the titans, once-and-for-all. Zeus cut up his father with his own scythe and cast his pieces into Tartarus. All the other titans who sided with Zeus were also imprisoned in Tartarus. Typhon Gaea was once again unhappy because her children, the Titans, were now imprisoned in Tartarus. Gaea gave birth to two monsters, Typhon and Echidna. The two had various monstrous children and afterwards, Echidna and her children hid in a cave and Typhon attacked Olympus. After another long and grueling war, the Olympians trapped Typhon under a mountain for all of eternity. Zeus allowed Echidna and her children to stay alive as a challenge to future heroes. Metis After the war, Zeus married Metis, the titaness of wisdom and daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Metis sided with the gods during the war and became Zeus' mentor after the war. When Metis first became pregnant, Zeus learned that they were to have a son that would overpower Zeus. Zeus acted as his father and grandfather did and tried to change destiny. He swallowed Metis whole. However, because she was immortal, she gave birth inside of Zeus to a daughter. After their daughter was fully-grown, Zeus suffered from a terrible headache. He asked Hephaestus to open his head with a blow with an axe. Hephaestus did so and Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, sprang out fully dressed in armor. Metis remained as Zeus' advisor while staying inside of his body. Hera Zeus eventually fell in love with his sister, Hera. However, Hera didn't love Zeus back. However, Zeus summoned a thunder storm and turned himself into a cuckoo. He flew to her window, pretending to be in distress. Hera took the cuckoo into her arms and cuddled with the bird. Zeus turned back into himself and Hera found herself cuddling with Zeus. Hera then agreed to become his wife and the two married. Leto Zeus and Leto had had an affair and Leto had gotten pregnant with a set of twins, which made Hera jealous. When Hera found out and she ordered all lands to shunt Leto so that she had no place to give birth. Eventually, Leto came to Delos, an island that had been recently created by Poseidon. It was so new that it wasn't attached to the ground yet, so technically, it wasn't land. Leto sat down under a palm tree and tried to give birth but Hera had forbid Eilithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to go to Leto so she could not give birth. All the goddesses felt sorry for Leto and tried to get Hera to allow the children to be born by offering her a necklace. The necklace was nine yards long and made out of gold and amber. Hera accepted the necklace and allowed the twins to be born. Leto's first child was Artemis. Artemis caused no pain to Leto when she was born so she became the goddess of childbirth. Apollo was next and he became the god of music, light, and truth. Zeus blessed Delos so that it became the most bountiful island of them all. Semele Zeus had also had an affair with a mortal woman named Semele. Hera, jealous that Zeus had impregnated this woman, disguised herself as and old woman and went to visit Semele. Hera talked friendly with Semele for a while but she eventually asked why her husband was not home. Semele told the old woman that her husband was Zeus but Hera, still pretending to be the old lady, told Semele that she had met plenty to men who pretended to be Zeus. She told Semele that she should ask Zeus to see him in all his splendor to be absolutely certain that he was who he said he was. Hera then left and Semele was still questioning Zeus. When Zeus returned, Semele asked him to grant her one wish. After he swore on the River Styx, she asked him to see him in his splendor. Zeus begged Semele to change her wish but she kept her wish as she didn't know that mortals would die if they saw the true form of gods. Zeus revealed his true form and Semele was burned to ashes. Zeus did however, save their son, Dionysus. Hermes took Dionysus to be raised by a band of Maenads. Dionysus grew up with tigers and leopards. When Dionysus grew up, he invented wine. Zeus was so proud of him that he granted him immortality and a place among the Olympians. However, there were now thirteen Olympians. Because thirteen was an unlucky number, Zeus saw this as a problem. Zeus' sister, Hestia, gave up her place on the Olympian council to Dionysus for a simple wooden tripod near the hearth. Disagreement with Prometheus Zeus had assigned Prometheus and Epimetheus to fill the earth with creatures so it wouldn't be so barren. Prometheus took clay from the river's bed and made creatures with two arms, two legs, and one head, These creatures were called humans. He put a small amount of fire into their bodies so they would become alive. Epimetheus, the titan of afterthought and the dumbest titan of them all, created a bunch of random creatures which became the animals of the earth. Prometheus loved his creations because they were his children. He went to Zeus and complained that all of Epimetheus' creations had ways to protect themselves but his creations didn't. He asked Zeus if he could give them some of the sacred fire of Olympus but Zeus denied his request. Prometheus still wasn't happy. He took some of the fire from Olympus, hiding it in a bundle of straw and gave it down to humans. Zeus was so angered at Prometheus' act that he chained him to a mountain and had the Caucasian Eagle fly to him and eat out his liver every day, since it would heal over night. Miscellany on Zeus *Zeus turned Pandareus to stone for stealing the golden dog which had guarded him as an infant in the holy Dictaeon Cave of Crete. *Zeus killed Salmoneus with a thunderbolt for attempting to impersonate him, riding around in a bronze chariot and loudly imitating thunder. *Zeus turned Periphas into an eagle after his death, as a reward for being righteous and just. *At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named Chelone refused to attend. Zeus transformed her into a tortoise (chelone in Greek). *Zeus, with Hera, turned King Haemus and Queen Rhodope into mountains (the Balkan mountains, or Stara Planina, and Rhodope mountains, respectively) for their vanity. *Zeus condemned Tantalus to eternal torture in Tartarus for trying to trick the gods into eating the flesh of his butchered son Pelops. *Zeus condemned Ixion to be tied to a fiery wheel for eternity as punishment for attempting to violate Hera. *Zeus sank the Telkhines beneath the sea. *Zeus blinded the seer Phineas and sent the Harpies to plague him as punishment for revealing the secrets of the gods. *Zeus rewarded Tiresias with a life three times the norm as reward for ruling in his favour when he and Hera contested which of the sexes gained the most pleasure from the act of love. *Zeus punished Hera by having her hung upside down from the sky when she attempted to drown Heracles in a storm. *Of all the children Zeus spawned, Heracles was often described as his favorite. Indeed, Heracles was often called by various gods and people as "the favorite son of Zeus", Zeus and Heracles were very close and in one story, where a tribe of earth-born Giants threatened Olympus and the Oracle at Delphi decreed that only the combined efforts of a lone god and mortal could stop the creature, Zeus chose Heracles to fight by his side. They proceeded to defeat the monsters. *Athena has at times been called his favorite daughter and adviser. *His sacred bird was the Golden Eagle, which he kept by his side at all times. Like him, the eagle was a symbol of strength, courage, and justice. *His favourite tree was the oak, symbol of strength. Olive trees were also sacred to him. *Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia were Zeus' retinue. *Zeus condemned Prometheus to having his liver eaten by a giant eagle for giving the Flames of Olympus to the mortals. *When Hera gave birth to Hephaestus, Zeus threw him off the top of Mount Olympus because of his repulsive appearance. In modern culture Depictions of Zeus as a bull, the form he took when raping Europa, are found on the Greek 2-euro coin and on the United Kingdom identity card for visa holders. Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge University, has criticised this for its apparent celebration of rape. Zeus has been portrayed by various actors: *Axel Ringvall in Jupiter på jorden, the first known film adaptation to feature Zeus. *Niall MacGinnis in Jason and the Argonauts and Angus MacFadyen in the 2000 remake *Laurence Olivier in the original Clash of the Titans, and Liam Neeson in the 2010 remake, along with the 2012 sequel Wrath of the Titans. *Anthony Quinn in the 1990s TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys *Rip Torn in the Disney animated feature Hercules *Sean Bean in the 2010 movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Family *Cronus (Father) *Rhea (Mother) *Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, and Chiron (Siblings) *The Moirae, The Nymphai, and The Horae (Daughters with ''[[Themis|''Themis]]) *The Charites (Daughters with Eurynome) *The Muses (Daughters with Mnemosyne) *Persephone (Daughter with Demeter) *Apollo and Artemis (Children with Leto) *Hebe, Ares, Enyo, Hephaestus, and Eilithyia (Children with Hera) *Athena (Daughter with Metis) *Aphrodite (Daughter with Dione in some myths) *Hermes (Son with Maia) *Dionysus (Demigod-born son with Semele) *Zagreus and Melinoe (Children with Persephone) *Ate (Daughter with Eris) *The Litai, Aletheia, and Caerus (Children) *Britomartis (Daughter with Karme) *Pandia, Ersa, and Nemea (Daughters with Selene) *Aegipan (Son with Boetis) *Palici (Daughter with Thalia) *Cybele (Child of Gaea) Mortal Children *Perseus (Son with Danae) *Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon (Children with Europa) *Helen and Polydeuces (Children with Leda) *Tantalus (Son with Plouto) Depiction and Personality Zeus is usually described as tough-looking man with a regal body. He usually was carrying a thunderbolt and he usually had a small beard or a little bit of scruff. Zeus was a very joyful man who laughed easily but he also had a serious side. His serious side helped him be very fair when the gods came to him for advice or resolutions to problems. Zeus was also easily angered and when he was mad it was very destructive. He hurled lightning bolts and caused violent storms to cause havoc on the earth. Zeus also easily fell in love as he had several affairs with various women. Sacred Symbols and Animals All of Zeus' symbols include; *'Thunderbolt' - Because of his status as the god of thunder and lightning. These thunderbolt also allow him to control the weather and allow him to destroy or kill whatever he dislikes. *'Aegis' - A powerful shield that he used before he gave it to his favored daughter, Athena. *'Set of Scales' - Showing him as a god of justice and law. *'Oak Tree '- Oak tends to be a very sturdy and strong material, symbolizing Zeus as stable and protective. *'Royal Scepter' All of his sacred animals include; *'Eagle' - The eagle showed Zeus as a powerful and royal god. Also, because eagles are often seen in sunlight, they symbolize Zeus as being pure and courageous. Eagles are also known for the excellent vision, symbolizing that Zeus saw all. *'Wolf' - A powerful creature of the land that is highly respected and feared. *'Woodpecker' Trivia *Zeus holds the number for most children. His wife however, had no children with others because she is the goddess of marriage. *Zeus' Roman name is Jupiter, or sometimes Jove. *Zeus punished anyone who lied. *Zeus had control over the weather as well as various other things only because he is the King of Olympus. *The Olympic Games were started in Zeus' honor. *Ancient Greeks believed that thunder was used to predict when Zeus' wrath was coming upon them. *Zeus can mean "day" in Ancient Greek. Gallery 1539967-zeus by genzoman.jpg Zeus.jpg 6074zeus.jpg Mainpage Slider Greek Mythology Gods.jpg Category:Gods Category:Olympians Category:Immortals Category:Males Category:Children of Cronus Category:Sky Gods